Advice/opinion needed for newbie to HAs
Elizabeth
years with almost no word recognition and discovered when I first went
for fittings that I couldn't tolerate the sensation of anything in my
ears. Shortly after that, I found a personal amplifier that works great
even for word recognition and have been getting by with it ever since.
This summer a woman who claimed she had a severe loss showed me her BTEs
with tiny ear buds that fit in the canal. Figured I could wear these so
went for round two with tests.
This time what looked tolerable turned out to be Phonaks with a tiny BTE
part and a huge amplifier that fit in the ear. The sensation of them is
absolutely intolerable and the sound quality even worse. I'm returning
them this week as they're worse than useless.
The audi claims that the BTEs with the tiny ear buds aren't made for my
drastic hearing loss and that any HA will have poor sound quality
compared to my amplifier and will not help word recognition at all.
I find it hard to believe that HAs costing nearing ten times as much as
generic amplifier can't deliver for me. Is this really true? Should I
stop searching for HAs that will work for me?
Any suggestions for HAs with good sound quality?
spartan
severe-to-profound loss, is because the microphone and receiver (that
is, the part that outputs sound) are well separated. Put them close
together as in an in-the-ear hearing aid and you are going to get
feedback, whistling, etc
The challenge will be getting a good fit between the ear and the
earmould. If the fit is poor, there is going to be sound leakage
resulting in feedback, whistling, poor sound quality, etc. For that
reason, the tiny ear buds are likely to be troublesome for severe-to-
profound losses.
Newer digital aids are supposed to have much improved feedback
management. But being a newer feature, they tend to appear on more
expensive aids. Your audiologist should be able to tell you about
this.
Keep trying. Much of the expense of hearing aids goes to pay for the
cost of all these fittings. Personal amplifiers don't have these
fitting costs which is why they are inexpensive.
Steve
Ken
Your experience with ear molds is normal - noone likes something that
feels like carrots stuffed in their ears. But I wanted to hear so I
just put up with the discomfort from waking until going to bed every
day. My audiologist said it was OK to give myself a break but I chose
not to.
So, guess what? Within a week I had learnt to tolerate the things and
by a fortnight I had forgotten they were there.
In retrospect, for me, putting up with the initial discomfort was the
correct choice. My audiologist bluntly refused to fit any other type
of aid than BTEs with hard molds because this was the only type which
would help with my profound hearing loss.
And don't worry about sound quality. If you are profoundly deaf what
you need is to be able to hear at all. And if you apply yourself it is
possible as dozens of members of the group can attest..
Mason C
1- If the sound amplifier is that much help, I question whether your
hearing is "profound" Can you give us some numbers from your
hearing tests?
2. Unless you have some particular outer-ear problem, the mold should
not be so uncomfortable. My first one was too tight and was replaced.
Since then I've forgotten it was there and once wore it into the shower !
3. I've did a lot of experimenting with amplifiers and use one on my
TV -- along with the aid. Except for such a special set-up, the tricks
a modern, digital aid can do make it much more useful than any
"amplifier."
disclosure: I'm an AH BTE user
Elizabeth
The new HAs certainly fit tightly enough and there is no problem with
feedback but everything sounds so muffled. I can hear and understand
people at 6"-12' with the amplifier but with the HAs, it's hopeless. The
audio said that no HA would help with word recognition and if that's the
case, there's no point in going any further.
If I wore huge, extra long BTEs with ITC buds, would the same problems
with feedback, etc. still exist? I don't want to trouble my audio in
sourcing and ordering them if the above style of aid isn't going to work
out.
My problem is that the amplifier works so well that the only
inconvenience is the size, and the ear buds which I can only wear for an
hour or so but am considering buying some ITC headphones.
Ken - I could sell these HAs to the U.S. military for legal torture in
Afghanistan and Guantanamo and make a fortune. Seriously! That is, if
they bothered everyone else as much as they do me.
The longest I can tolerate them is five minutes then have to take them
out. They feel so horrible that I can't force myself to even look at
them again.
The first time an audio injected the substance into my ears to make the
molds, after about 30 seconds I was pacing the floor in desperation,
trying hard not to scream or yank the stuff out. I can quite understand
now how an animal can gnaw of a limb caught in a trap because I would
have willingly torn off my ears just to get rid of that substance.
The new HAs feel even worse because they are so tight and hard. On top
of that, they really don't help much hearing-wise so I can't see any
point in trying to get used to them, even if I could stand to look at
them again.
Perhaps if I hadn't started off with a personal amplifier, I might be
slightly more willing to try them but they are agony in my ears, the
sound is hopeless and for over $3000 for two of them, I can't find any
reason to make them worth buying.
Elizabeth
Left Ear: 250 Mz - 60
500 Mz - 70
1K - 80
2K - 80
4K - 80
8K - 80
Right ear 250 Mz - 60
500 Mz - 70
1K - 80
2K - 90
4K - 90
8K - 80
It's not that the mold part is uncomfortable, per se, rather that it's
irritating, like having a grain of sand in your shoe that you can't
remove. Problem too is that the irritation increases with time. For
example, for the first minute or two they feeling is tolerable, two to
four minutes they're really getting to me and after five minutes, I'd
pay anyone all the money I had just to take them out.
I'd even thought of using a topical anaesthetic but that isn't a
long-term solution.
Mason C
1 - Either you have hyper-sensitive ears or your audiologist does
not know how to make and fit a mold.
2 - The muffled sound indicates that the vent in the mold is either
non-existent or too small.
3 - Of course a hearing aid -- if it works -- will improve word
recognition. That's its primary function.
I'll let others comment on your 80-90 db loss, which is severe, but
if an amplifier helps then a hearing aid should help more..
JBloggs
>... Shortly after that, I found a personal amplifier that works great
>even for word recognition and have been getting by with it ever since.
What brand/vendor makes the personal amplifier you use?
I have profound loss, and I haven't been too impressed with
the noise reduction, or fidelity of any personal amplifiers I've run
across. (mind, at $20-40 USD, i'm not expecting much...)
Reason I ask is that I've use such an amplifier
(radio shack, 3-band "equalizer") while skiiing, snow-showing,
mountain hiking in lieu of putting my (expensive) aids at risk of
loss (eg face plant into a snow drift, or rain/sweat).
when I use use an open-bud headset, the feedback is a problem
even with the microphone 2-3 feet away.
[ The aids I have don't tolerate moisture well at all. (Canta 7's)
I've considered looking at Phonak's aids (Naidia?), which
claim to be moisture/water resistant, but they're too expensive
at the moment, for me to replace working aids... ]
Don
personal amplifier that you use. I have profound hearing loss and have
great difficulty understanding speech. My audio told me that there is
NO hearing aid that will make me hear. So, I am interested in hearing
more about your personal amplifier that I might want to try.
Thanks,
don
Ken
The big difference between Don and Elizabeth is that she has hearing
at all frequencies. Don's situation is probably like mine - no high
frequency hearing at all - in which case he will never have good
speech comprehension no matter how powerful an amp/hearing aid he
uses. Profound high frequency loss usually means that you have no high
frequency hearing - in my case nothing above 750. Unfortunately high
frequencies are essential for good speech comprehension. After several
decades of successful hearing aid use but continued deterioration in
my hearing, my audiologist said the same asDon's - no hearing aid
would help and he suggested I go CI - which I did (with spectacular
results).
The point I am making is that if you have no hearing in a particular
part of the sound spectrum no amount of amplification is going to
help.
On the other hand, if you can hear above 1k, and if Elizabeth's amp is
not too costly, I would certainly give it a try. I have stacks of
hardware I tried over the years in my battle to keep in touch with the
world. And much it it worked - for a while.
So, above all, keep battling!
Elizabeth
Thanks to you all for your input and explanations, all very helpful.
Hate to disappoint you but my amplifier is a Radio Shack one bought at
least five years ago for $39.95. It measures 3" long by 2-1/8" wide by
5/8" thick and uses ordinary portable stereo headphones. It's labelled
as a "Stereo Amplified Listener" but there are no technical specs
written on it anywhere. It uses two AA batteries and the Radio Shack
catalogue number, for what it's worth, is 33-1093A.
When I first tried it out, I was amazed at how good the sound was and
wanted to wear it all the time. The only thing stopping me is having to
wear ear buds that fit into the end of the ear canal. Depending on my
tolerance level that day, I can wear them for anywhere from half an hour
to three hours, but never any longer.
My first experience, about five years ago, with audiologists was with
Beltone and when it became obvious that I couldn't tolerate the
sensation of anything in my ears, they showed me an amplifier they sold
for around $400. It was huge - about the size of the very first Walkmans
and had a foam-covered microphone projecting about an inch. It looked so
awkward and cumbersome that I didn't even consider it. That's one great
advantage of my Radio Shack amplifier - its small size and easy
portability. I cam wrap the headphones around it and jam it into the
bottom of my handbag. It seems almost indestructible. They don't sell
them any more around there though, unfortunately because I'd love a
back-up one.
I should mention though, for what difference it makes, that I did buy
the best quality ear phones possible, from a stereo store. Think they're
Sennheiser so that might help sound quality.
Elizabeth
humma...@humma.com
>
>My first experience, about five years ago, with audiologists was with
>Beltone and when it became obvious that I couldn't tolerate the
>sensation of anything in my ears, they showed me an amplifier they sold
>for around $400.
>
>the best quality ear phones possible, from a stereo store. Think they're
>Sennheiser so that might help sound quality.
>
Elizabeth.. I have a long standing problem with Beltone and would
ask you if the the person's you spoke with were really audiologists
or were what Beltone likes to call " hearing aid audiologists" ( read
: not audiologists) If you are getting benefit from you Radio Shack
amps I'd suggest you find an independant degreed audiologist in your
area and have them test you with the RS amps versus a well fit modern
H.A. or hearing assistive device (HAT), . You could also check out
Williams Sound for some very interesting personal amps including those
with telephone coils/bluetooth/noise cancellation.
Elizabeth
audiologists to consult. But I'm certainly going to keep trying.
I have an appointment today to return the horrible Phonak HAs at which
time I'll be shown the amp they sell. The points you mentioned about
amps are much appreciated as the Radio Shack one is strictly a no-frills
one and it would be great to have a telephone coil.
Elizabeth
JBloggs
<CICan...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:12:47 -0800, JBloggs <JBl...@acme.com> wrote:
>
>> I've considered looking at Phonak's aids (Naidia?), which
>> claim to be moisture/water resistant, but they're too expensive
>> at the moment, for me to replace working aids... ]
>
>I was fitted with one Naida IX UP, along with a myPilot remote control
>by the VA a couple weeks ago. It replaced a 5+ year old Oticon Sumo.
>I can say without hesitation, the Naida is the finest hearing aid I've
>every experienced after 25+ years of Widex, Oticon, etc ownership.
>Amazing sound and the first telecoil that really works on the phone.
>
>I'm currently waiting for my a Nucleus 5 CI surgery on December 10 on
>the other ear that doesn't work so well.
>
>Thank heaven for my Military Service and Veterans administration.
that might be the nudge I need to try an evaluation
of the Naida IX. if they truly are water-resistant, I may
bite the bullet, as I find myself avoiding activities
where my aids could get wet, as time goes on.
Otherwise, my inner-cheapskate was thinking that dropping
that kind of money on what might be only a marginally improvment
would be ill-advised ....
Good to hear that the VA will fit the more expensive aids
nowadays. after all, the Navy (and the other service branches)
damage a lot of ears ...
I've plugged Jennifer's Thorpe's site, a few months back,
if you haven't seen it, it's worth looking at. (see below)
and you should consider posting about your upcoming CI-experiences.
I'm border-line eligible for CI myself; I'd be interested
to hear how it goes for you, and I'm sure other would be as well.
http://stereophonicbionic.blogspot.com/
iirc, in the 2007 time-frames , she posted videos of her
activation/ mapping sessions.
http://www.youtube.com/user/sweetpeaintennessee
Very interesting, and she's an excellent writer.
http://stereophonicbionic.blogspot.com/2007/11/incredible-doesnt-even-begin-to-cover.html